Carrier.



.No. 851,638. PATENTED APR. 30, 1907.

L. M. ADDINGTON. CARRIER.

APPLIOATION FILED APE. 7,1806.

2 SHEBTS 'BHEET 1.

PATENTED APR. 30; 1907.

L. M. ADDINGTON.

CARRIER.

mummies-nun APR. 7, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. witmwoaf gofmm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 30, 1907.

Application filed April '7, 1906. Serial No. 310,526.

To to whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, LEONARD M. ADDING- TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Danvers, in the county of McLean and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carriers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more especially to that class of carriers designed to transport mail, change or other parcels or articles not possessing great bulk or weight, and adapted, as a rule, to travel on an overhead support, such for example as a suspended wire or rail;

In order to more fully describe my said invention, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents in side elevation a car rier embodying one specific form of my said invention; Fig. 2, a similar view of the said carrier viewed from'the opposite side and with the lower portion of the frame broken away; Fig. 3, a front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 2; and Fig. 1, a detail top plan View of the retaining catch for the reversing lever.

Similar numerals will be used to indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

. In carrying out the form of my invention herein shown, I employ a main frame 1, preferably in the form of an elongated bar hav ing at one end a yoke 2 which may or may not be integral with said frame. In this yoke is a wheel 3 having a grooved periphery adapted to travel on a wire 4, rail or other suitable support. This wheel is mounted on a spindle 5 journaled in the yoke of the frame 1, and upon one end of the spindle is keyed a gear wheel 6 on the opposite side of the main frame from the said wheel.

Surrounding the gear wheel 6 is an open auxiliary frame 7, pivoted at its lower end as by a bolt 8 or otherwise to the main frame. This auxiliary frame is provided with two offset portions 9 and 10 which may be integral with said auxiliary frame or secured thereto in any desired way. In the open ends of these offset portions of the said auxiliary frame are journaled spindles 11 and 12 respectively on opposite sides of the axis of rotation of the gear wheel 6. Mounted fast on the spindle 11, on opposite sides of the frame portion 9, are the gear wheel 13 and sprocket wheel 14, while a corresponding gear Wheel 15 and sprocket wheel 16 are simithe gear wheel 27.

larly mounted on the spindle 12. The gear wheel 15 meshes with a pinion 17 mounted for rotation on the auxiliary frame directly above the gear 15.

Secured fast to the upper portion of the auxliary frame is a reversing lever 18 having a handle 19. This reversing lever is arranged to be held in either one of two positions by a retaining catch 20 located near the upper end of the main frame and provided with openings 21 and 22 in which the reversing lever is adapted to be held. When the said reversing lever is held within the slot 21, for example, the pinion 17 is caused to mesh with the main driving gear wheel 5, while if the lever 18 is shifted to the position where it is held in slot 22, the pinion 17 is released from the gear wheel 5 and the gear wheel 13 made to mesh therewith. In this way the direction of the rotation of the supporting wheel 5 may be reversed, thereby reversing the direction of travel of the carrier as hereinafter described.

Journaled in the main frame 1 below the auxiliary frame is a spindle 23, upon one end of which is keyed a sprocket wheel 24 which is connected by means of a sprocket chain 25 to the sprocket wheels 14 and 15. Also keyed on the spindle 23 on the opposite side of the main frame from the sprocket wheel 24 is a gear wheel 26 which meshes with a larger gear wheel 27 mounted on the driving shaft 28 of a spring motor 29 of any suitable construction. For the purpose of supporting this spring motor, the main frame of the carrier is provided with an o ll'set portion 30 which may either be made integral with the main frame or bolted thereto, as desired. Rotary motion is imparted from the driving shaft 28 of the motor to the gear wheel 27 through the medium of a ratchet 31 made fast upon the said driving shaft, and a pawl 32 adapted to engage said ratchet and pivoted upon said gear, the said pawl being held in engagement with the teeth of said ratchet under the tension of a spring 33, which is made fast at one end as at 34 to the said gear wheel 27 For the purpose of holding the gear 27 while winding up the spring motor or at other times when it is desired that the gearing be not set in motion while the motor is wound up, I provide a catch 35 pivoted as at 36 on the main frame, to engage the teeth of This catch is operated by means of a cam or lug 37 mounted upon one end of a spindle 38 journaled in the frame of the carrier and carrying upon its other end a finger piece 39.

To the main carrier frame below the motor and gearing may be attached any suit able receptacle or device for carrying parcels. In the drawings I have shown for this purpose a receptacle 40 mounted upon a right angled extension 41 of the main frame 1 and secured thereto by means of a bolt 42 and thumb nut 43.

The spring motor may be wound up by means of a crank or other device applied to the squared portion 44 of the shaft 28 thereof, while the gearing is held from rotation by means of the catch 35.

It will be obvious that with the reversing lever in the position shown in the drawings, the carrier will be driven in one direction when the catch 35 is released, and that the said carrier will be driven in the opposite direction when the reversing lever is shifted to the opposite slot 22, which will bring the I gear 13 into engagement with the gear 6 and disengage the gear 17.

Having described a specific form of my invention, which may be modified without departing from the spirit thereof, what I claim 1s:

1. A carrier, comprising a single traction wheel, a spindle forming a driving axle for i said wheel, a gear wheel mounted fast on said spindle, an elongated frame supported by and arranged to depend from said traction 1 wheel, an auxiliary frame pivoted on said elongated frame, reversing gears carried by l said auxiliary frame for connection one at a time with the gear wheel on the driving axle of the traction wheel, a gear wheel mounted on said frame below said auxiliary frame and traction wheel, sprocket gearing between said gear wheel and said reversing gears, a spring motor mounted on said frame below all of the aforementioned gears, gearing connecting said motor with said gears, and a parcel receptacle mounted on said elongated frame beneath said motor.

2. A carrier, comprising a single traction wheel, a main frame comprising an elongated bar, means at one end of said frame to suspend the same from the axis of said wheel, a gear wheel operatively connected to said supporting wheel to drive the same, an open auxiliary frame pivoted on said main frame and extending around said gear wheel, a pair of reversing gear wheels carried by said auxiliary frame, located respec tively on opposite sides of the axis of rotation of the first mentioned gear wheel, and adapted to be brought by the movement of said frame into and out of engagement with the gear wheel connected to said supporting wheel, sprocket wheels carried by said auxiliary frame and operatively connected respectively to each of said gear wheels on said frame, a sprocket wheel carried by the main frame, a sprocket chain gearing said sprocket wheel to those on the auxiliary frame, a

spring motor mounted on said main frame, gearing connecting said motor with the sprocket'wheel on said main frame, a reversing lever for shifting said auxiliary frame, retaining means cooperating with said lever to hold said frame in position, and a receptacle mounted on the lower end of said main frame.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEONARD M. ADDINGTON Witnesses:

SAIN l/VELTY, VW l/VHITMORE. 

